It is a huge day for the Miami Heat as it was reported first by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, later confirmed by ClutchPoints, and made official from the team itself, that the they have traded for Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier. As compensation, the Hornets received a 2027 first-round pick and point guard Kyle Lowry.
Stars Tyler Herro and Kevin Love gave their two cents about the move and how Rozier can impact the team heading into the second half of the season. As for the aforementioned Herro, he expressed his excitement about it to the media after Tuesday's practice, saying an “energy boost” was needed for Miami.
“I think it's time for an energy boost around here for sure. Terry's a great player,” Herro said. “And we appreciate Kyle [Lowry] and everything he's done for us and our team….But I think it is time and it was the right time to make a move and I'm excited about it.”
The Heat desperately needed a productive scoring threat who has massive capability at the point-guard position, and Rozier fills that need perfectly. So far this season with the Hornets, he has been averaging career-highs with 23.2 points and 6.6 assists while shooting 45.9 percent from the field. Herro said to the media that there are similarities between himself and Rozier.
“We can both play on the ball or off the ball,” Herro said. “We both can catch and shoot or dribble and shoot, and we can also play make to our teammates. We'll play faster. That will be a big part of it.”
Kevin Love talking about what Rozier brings to the Heat
Another player that expressed his enthusiasm about the trade is veteran Kevin Love who is no stranger to the former Charlotte guard as he remembers playing him when he was on the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rozier was on the Boston Celtics . He said to the media that he contributes in a multitude of ways at a high level.
“He's somebody that can put points up in a hurry. Somebody who obviously attacks the game, playing eight and a half years in Cleveland, when he got into League and we played against him, you know whether it be in Boston or anytime we played against him he's used to light us up,” Love said. “So, we got a heavy dose of his game and you know, some games it was high assists output, sometimes it was defensive output but can certainly can put points up in a hurry and get his teammates involved in plays the right way. So he does a lot of good things.”
Love talks how “paramount” it is to score at a high level
As the NBA has seen a huge uptick in scoring and offense the past several years, the Heat have not been known to be the team that scores close to 140 point every game. That has been especially shown in their current slump where they even have failed to score 100 points in four of the last six games. Love talks about that and how Rozier helps Miami in that aspect.
“It's huge, but on top of that, Terry is a competitor, somebody's gonna go out there every single game and fight so it is increasingly important and paramount to have a weapon and a scoring threat out there on the floor,” Love said. “Really every position but somebody who can put points up in a hurry and with teams and offensive scoring so many points and offensive ratings continuing to go up, usage continuing to go up, it just goes to show you how important that is in this league.”
Fans have been clamoring for the Heat to make a trade at this level and while they have been hesitant in the past, they finally pulled the trigger this time around and get themselves a “scary” piece in Terry Rozier. When he will debut for Miami is a different story as the team prepares for a back-to-back starting Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies and Thursday against the Boston Celtics, Rozier's former team.
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